Rangitikei Advocate. WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 8860, 10 July 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

* THE Premier deserves credit for his suggestion to the Imperial Conference for the appointment of com- - mercial agents in the colonies, and [ we are glad to note that it has been adopted. Tho results should compensate the colony for tho cost of the Premier’s holiday trip. If the British agents do their work thoroughly, indeed, wo might save tho expense of maintaining a High Commissioner in London, because all the information wo require will be supplied by tho commercial agents I)ore, who will bo more in touch with tho Board of Trado than our representative can possibly bo. The fact .that this suggestion has boon acted'npon conclusively proves that the British Government are, as Sir Joseph Ward pointed out, anxious to assist in tho improvement and development of trade within the Empire. This was never doubted by intelligent people, though 'others have loudly assorted tho contrary, because that][Qovominent woula not take steps to restrict trade and the people of Britain.

A STRONG deputation from local bodies -waited on the Minister for Health at Wellington on Saturday to ask for redress from the increased levies for hospital and charitable aid purposes. They got very little satisfaction, though the Minister said an effort would be made to give relief to the country districts. He also stated that “increased cost of hospital work was inevitable, because everything used was increasing in price. ’ ’ This, of course, is only another way of saying that the

country ratepayers are being compelled to pay more because the city factory hands are able to chargemore for the supplies they manufacture because cheaper , supplies are deliberately shut out by the imposition of high restrictive duties. It is curious to note how Minister after Minister blandly refers to the increased cost of all supplies, and yet no effort is made to enable the people to utilise or obtain cheaper supplies. Indeed, some Ministers are coolly proposing to still further increase the restrictive duties which are doing such damage to the great majority of the people. Some interesting statements showing the drain on the country districts were made by members of the deputation.

The Horowhenua representative said that last year 14 per cent of tho country rates went for the hospital and 5 per cent for charitable aid. In other words, nearly a fifth of tho rates of the country district went to support institutions and people in the towns. The Miramar representative said that while the population of the hospital district had increased since 1899 by only 80 per cent the rate had increased by 40 or 50 per cent. The Lower Hutt representative complained that Iris Borough had. to pay no less than £737 for hospital and charitable aid. Tho representative of Levin, which contributes to Wellington Hospital, said that while Feilding. (which contributes to Palmerston) paid only £74 14s Bd, his Borough, with only a third of the population and a fifth of tho rateable value, paid £Bl 8s 6d. It is satisfactory, in one sense, to

note that ratepayers are at last beginning to strongly protest against the burdens which have been placed on them, and which are ever increasing. The increased rate for hospital and charltblo aid is one form in which the injurious fiscal policy is specially affecting the country districts. It is bringing homo to the country ratepayers the fact that they have to pay for the loss consequent on the working of the labour laws, the higher pay of factory hands, the shorter hours, and the reduced output. Ere long wo may see a country party develop which will loudly insist on retrenchment and reform, and the freeing of trade and commerce from all restrictions.

THE Juno number of Dalgety’s Review contains an interesting article from its Bradford correspou- | dent under the heading, “Will wool supplies break down prices?” And the answer arrived at is, No. The wool arrivals at Home are _described as ‘ ‘ tremendous, ’ ’ and, says the writer, “not for the past ten years have the mills of Europe had such large weights of material shot against them as'dnring the last few months. Hero in Bradford every station is ‘mooed ont’ with wool, every inch of space being commandeered. Thousands of bales are also in the trucks, the different companies having nowhere to empty them. All the sidings seem to he fall, and from half to one mile the

outside linos are full, with practically nothing else but waggons laden with wool. This is a far different sight to what one has seen, and my mind goes hack to 1895 to find a parallel. We no longer hear my firm saying that they have nothing to go on with; on ’the other hand, the majority say that combers are bothering them, simply because they cannot get wool combed fast enough to relieve pressure at „ the warehouse.'” But notwithstanding the increased production the increased consumption was greater 'still. Hence tiro sustained values. Since wool is not a perishable product, like butter or cheese, it might have been j thought that accumulations would j have been made when prices were j lower, but such was not done. As j a" matter of fact, there are no wool \ reserves to fall back upon, and until j flint nf'cnra the cnrrnannndent from

whom we have quoted says low j prices cannot be expected. Plenty! think there will be no surpluses, the j combined consumptive capacity of j British, Continental and American j mills being such as will absorb the ! whole of the increase. If that happy j state is accomplished, then current j

prices are bound to last for some considerable time, but it is indeed difficult to say exactly what will happen. “Summing up,says tho Review writer, “prospects point to current values for merinos remaining all about where they stand for soma time to come, for an exclient future trade is still to bo done. The orders are already placed, and that being so I do not think wool values for merinos will show much change for some months to come. ’ ’